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Jigsaw

As you’ve probably caught onto while reading things I write on here, I’m a fairly regular reader over on IMDb.[I often tag a movie I mention with their IMDb page] When not using their pages for posts on here, I enjoy looking up movie trivia, and even sometimes even reading [and commenting] in the forums. But when looking up a few behind the scene features on the Saw franchise [I actually do this a lot, for many movies] about the traps, something caught my eye: in the section that tells a reader what other movies they may like, [based on the movie page they’re currently on] I saw something.. something titled ” Saw VIII ” with a tag line stating “ARE YOU WORTHY?” . Wait. Seriously? Yes – Seriously. [here’s the IMDb official page for it!] I started doing some research on it, and naturally, various rumors and a lot of fake trailers for a “Saw 8″ have made appearances on YouTube and even message boards. But going back, to IMDb, it looks as if it was added a while ago, with the original writers [Leigh Whannel and James Wan] and Tobin Bell, who plays the John Kramer himself, have been added to the cast and crew section. Curious, I dug deeper. Eventually, I came across on the 31st of March 2015, Lionsgate uploaded an image from SAW V onto it’s Facebook page, seemingly without out of no where. Not just any picture – this picture. But trust me, it gets better. As expected, people went crazy over this picture, as proven by it’s nearly 10,000 likes. In one comment, someone [who’s has been whited out for obvious privacy reasons] says “So let the games continue!” and how does Lionsgate reply?

Of course, other than this reply, [which, in all honesty: could mean anything] not much is known about this ‘sequel’ other than Tobin Bell, WhannelandWan are back. Another possible hint as to another film showed up a few months later, in May 2015, when a site called Release Date Portal put up an article titled ‘Saw 8 Release Date June 2016‘. The article isn’t really anything special, and it doesn’t confirm anything, but it does include some interesting quotes from producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules about their plans for making another Saw film, and about bringing the original writers back on board:

” James and Leigh…when Saw came out they were so afraid of being ‘the Saw guys’ and they were trying to make their own mark. Now that they’ve made their own mark, they’re very comfortable to come back. It’s one of the reasons we agreed to do this again…Our goal is to go to Comic-Con, not next summer but the summer after [ by this point, they would have meant 2016] with our heads up saying, ‘Alright. Here we go!’ “

Realistically, this would mark the first time a SAW film hasn’t come out a year after it’s previous sequel. Speaking of that last sequel, by the end of [the terrible]Saw 3D, we see Cary Elwes – Dr. Lawrence Gordon putting Hoffman – as played by Costas Mandylor – in the original film’s bathroom trap. For a lot of fans, myself included, the finalSAW movie was kind of bland; and almost a cop out for the series. What happened to Hoffman when he got locked in the bathroom? It’s implied that he dies in there, but does he? This is only one of many questions that “the final chapter” left for viewers, and if we’re being honest: we need at least some of those questions answered. Mainly being, doesGordon become the nextJigsaw? It’s not like he can just shrug off what he’s done, and go back to a normal life..

So the question[s] remain: Do YOU think SAW VIII is really a necessity – Why or why not? Also, if we do get an eighth installment in this series, what do YOU expect to happen? Let me know in the comments below! As for myself, I’m curious, but I’m glad that they’ve waited longer than a year to make this. Maybe they’ll have a fantastic story..at least better than “the final chapter” which no one likes to talk about..

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Have you ever noticed in movies that when it comes time to write/make a sequel [or six], the films – as a whole – tend to become progressively worse than the one before it? I have. many times. As it turns out, there’s actually a word for that: sequelitis. As described by TVTROPES, sequelitis is when the number of films in a series grows, the higher the probability that the latest entry will be terrible. This makes sense if you think back to older films that had their share of many sequels: such as the Puppet Master films, Friday The 13th, and evenA Nightmare On Elm Street – even if that last one and it’s sequels have a special place in my heart. In other words, sequels to movies, generally created on the hopes of box office revenue, are rarely as good as the movie they’re an actual sequel to. If there’s an attempt at a third installment as well, this will also[usually] mark a sharp downhill spike, evenif the second movie turned out “all right”. I won’t even get into Direct-To-Video sequels, cause that screams ‘bound to be garbage’ [ahem! Hostel: Part III, cough] Today though, we’re going to be talking about yet another series that although I love[d] them as a whole, they really did get worse as the series went on. If you know me in real life, you’d know that I’m, of course, talking about Saw [and it’s many sequels]

Look at the picture above. Notice how the first Saw film was 48% fresh, but it’s sequel: Saw II, had a ‘freshness’ of 36%? That’s almost 10% of a difference already, already showing us that the second film wasn’t as good as the first! [granted, these films aren’t exactly everyone‘s cup of tea] By the time a thirdSAW film appeared on screen, we’ve dropped yet another 10% in popularity amongst the films. I mean, you’d think that’s where they’d stop..right? Except, this is where it gets kind of tricky though because the series was supposed to end at the third film, which could make sense if you’ve seen the films. But when Lionsgate began to notice just how much money Saw was bringing them in, they demanded that the script to Saw III be changed immensely to allow even moreSAW movies to be made.. Obviously, this falls on the fault of “Executive Meddling” – which essentially means that these films started to get worse, because of executive decisions beyond our control.

It’s kind of unfortunate that the Saw films fell into such a death-trap though, [see what I did there?] because I actually enjoyed them – at the very least, for the story of John Kramer and the traps. The Final Chapter, which didn’tfeel very “final” at all, ended up with 09% freshness, which is beyond saving.. Even if I have a terrible habit of trying to find something good with every film I watch; that score is fitting. The Final Chapterhurt to watch. [it very well could have been a trap of it’s own]i It didn’t even clear everything up, which it’s promotional teasers claimed it would. [it’s final moments/ending only really made sense if you watched the film with the commentary on]

“well, let’s see: do I want more SAW movies or no? can I think it over first?”

With news and confirmations of an eighth Saw film coming as soon as Halloween 2015, [groan*] I’m both guilty of being excited and overly nervous for what’s to come. With the last film in the series being such garbage, received badly by critics and fans alike, I don’t see why they feel the need to keep pushing with more. If this new sequel is as bad as I’m predicting it will be, I’m hoping Lionsgate comes to realize that more does not always mean better. But now I turn to you readers: how do youfeel about the Saw films? Were they masterpieces of horror [I mean, they are the highest grossing horror franchise made] or something that should have ended after part three? Let me know in a comment or two down below.

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